Saving lives or protecting borders? An analysis of EU policies towards irregular migration in Libya and Niger from 2015 to 2020

Since 2015, smuggling of irregular migrants from North Africa to Southern Europe has increased at an unprecedented rate. This has led to deaths at sea and exposed the abuses faced by migrants aiming to reach Europe. As a result, the European Union (EU) has adopted and implemented “humanitarian” policies in Libya and Niger to dismantle the business model of smuggling and save lives. The thesisargues that the EU’s policies have not saved lives or dismantled smuggling networks. Instead, they have been used to influence and condition Libya and Niger into accepting and enforcing migration control. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the thesis analyses migration policies: The Anti Human Smuggling Law Niger (2015), The European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (2015) and The Memorandum of Understanding between Italy and Libya (2017). The analysis revealed the sub-text of security practices embedded in the policies. This thesis will show that the EU prioritises deterring migrants over saving lives. To achieve this, Libya and Niger are used as Primary and Secondary Securitisation Hubs for the EU, where a mixture of security practices such as border patrols and forced returns, and development aid such as creating economic opportunities are used to stop irregular migration. The analysis of the underlying subtext further revealed neo-colonial elements in the securitised policies. This is demonstrated through the unequal power relations between the EU and Libya and Niger which helped justify the implementation of the policies in these countries.